Asian Perspectives on International Investment Law

With changes to the international investment law landscape and Asian countries now actively developing their network of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and free trade agreements (FTAs), this volume studies issues relating to Asian perspectives on international investment law and forecasts the future of Asian contribution to its science and practice. The book discusses the major factors that have been driving Asian countries to new directions in international investment rule-making and dispute settlement. It also looks at whether Asian countries are crafting a new model of international investment law to reflect their specific socio-cultural values. Finally, the book examines whether there are any ‘Asian’ styles of international investment rule-making and dispute settlement, or if individual Asian countries are seeking specific national ‘models’ based on economic structure and geopolitical interests. This unique collection is exceptionally useful to students, scholars and practitioners of international investment law, international trade law and public international law.

Preface1. Introduction. Junji Nakagawa 2. China’s approach towards investment agreements and its interests involved in international investment rule making. Wei Yin 3. Investment dispute-settlement trends between Far-East and Ibero-America. Alejandro García Jiménez 4. Defending the undefendable: Asia’s sovereignist battles against easy access to investment treaty arbitration. Relja Radovic 5. Will Asia breathe life into a Multilateral Investment Court? Thoughts on the feasibility and design of a new, stand-alone court. Céline Lévesque 6. Rethinking the role of labour provisions under Asian international investment regime: a possible linkage with FTAAP? Zheng Lizhen 7. In the habit of giants: fair and equitable treatment and structural risk factors in conglomerate-led newly industrialized countries. Soo-Hyun Lee 8. Objective criteria and ratione legis condition in the definition of investment: global trends and the Chinese practice. G. Matteo Vaccaro-Incisa 9. The ASEAN comprehensive investment agreement approach to due process: does arbitral case law matter? Fulvio Maria Palombino and Giovanni Zarra 10. The role of non-disputing contracting party’s expression of intention in investment arbitration: observations on the PRC letters in the Saga of Sanum v. Laos. Tianshu ZhangSubject index. Index of cases. Index of treaties.

Junji Nakagawa is Professor of International Economic Law at the Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. His publications include Nationalization, Natural Resources and International Investment Law: Contractual Relationship as a Dynamic Bargaining Process (Routledge, 2017); WTO: Beyond Trade Liberalization (Iwanami Shoten, 2013, in Japanese); Transparency in International Trade and Investment Dispute Settlement (Routledge, 2013); Multilateralism and Regionalism in Global Economic Governance (Routledge, 2011); International Harmonization of Economic Regulation (Oxford University Press, 2011); Anti-Dumping Laws and Practices of the New Users (Cameron May, 2007); and Managing Development: Globalization, Economic Restructuring and Social Policy (Routledge, 2006).